Neutrality is at the heart of Irish sovereignty

A contextual background to the recent protests opposing the efforts of the Dublin government to bring the 26 Counties into international military alliances.

In 1914, the British Empire decided to get itself involved in the allied war with Germany and Central Powers. The two rivals for European hegemony had been shadow boxing and sniping in the years leading up to the war and on 28th July they dragged most of the world into their imperial nightmare. One of the most stupidly destructive wars the world has ever seen was the result of complex alliances infused with a healthy dose of base capitalist greed.

Without mandate, John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, decided to pledge the Irish Volunteers ‘wherever the firing line extended’ and entwined the insipid impotence of Home Rule with the interests of the British Empire. It was Irish performative politics at its very best. In doing so, Redmond displayed an all too common disdain for the Irish public. As usual James Connolly was correct in his assessment of the initial stages of the war and the malaise of the Irish political elite:

“Abject servility there is in Ireland… Redmond, without consulting you, the people of Ireland, pledged us to war with as kindly, gracious a nation as God ever put the breath of life into – what happened then?”

John Redmond was one of the most pathetic figures in Irish history, emblematic of a post-colonial slave mentality that still is at work in the psyche of Free State politicians today. Working within the confines of the British parliamentary system, his party’s “abject servility” seduced thousands of Irishmen to their death. All the while the British put off Home Rule, tried to enforce conscription, and gave the Ulster Unionists their own blank cheque to partition the country.

The Free State has consistently exhibited its abject servility during the course of its existence, by rerunning democratic referenda when the European Union doesn’t like the result, by giving warmongering criminals like Reagan and Obama fawning state welcomes, and by embracing the British monarchy that still has an armed occupying force in its country. One of the few admirable decisions taken by successive twenty six county governments therefore is the longstanding commitment to neutrality. Caught between the Allies and the Axis, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the Dublin government has stubbornly refused to formally join any military alliance, even though such neutrality can be extremely subjective, see US military troop movements through Shannon for example. Nevertheless, the morality of neutrality is an important part of Free State policy and enjoys widespread and enduring support from the Irish public.

World War One was a slow motion car crash that suddenly and unavoidably sped up as the combatants were locked into secret alliances. We can see much the same complex alliance systems underscored by selfish capitalism at work today. The NATO version of drang nach osten looks to swallow up more members, while Russia and China seek a multipolar order to combat US domination. Macron recently let slip another threat which comes from the establishment of the European Union as a ‘third pole’ to counter Beijing and Washington. True to form, the twenty six counties have been flying kites at a tremendous pace, signaling their intentions to attack neutrality. In an act of performative politics that would make John Redmond proud, Martin has announced 4 town hall meetings where neutrality will be “discussed” and states there is no ‘preconceived outcome.” In this case a discussion will mean neutrality is attacked and critiqued to the point of death while RTÉ and other compliant media shills will regurgitate the party line that neutrality is outdated and strategically useless. Here we are over one hundred years later with the modern day version of Redmond, Varadkar and Martin, undermining neutrality in their own version of performative politics, this time for their masters in NATO.

Neutrality is at the heart of sovereignty and must be protected at all costs. Neutrality means upholding a position that modern warfare is morally wrong, destructive and could very likely lead to humanity’s extinction. We will be developing this discussion on sovereignty and neutrality in the coming months. In the meantime, it is worth noting that again Connolly’s words are as relevant today as the day they were written:

“If you are itching for a rifle, itching to fight, have a country of your own; better to fight for our own country than for the robber empire. If ever you shoulder a rifle, let it be for Ireland.”

Urgent Appeal